TOMATOMETER

Audience Score

Brooklyn's Finest Ratings & Reviews Explanation

Brooklyn's Finest
Photos

Movie Info

Burned out veteran Eddie Dugan is just one week away from his pension and a fishing cabin in Connecticut. Narcotics officer Sal Procida has discovered there's no line he won't cross to provide a better life for his long-suffering wife and seven children. And Clarence "Tango" Butler has been undercover so long his loyalties have started to shift from his fellow police officers to his prison buddy Caz, one of Brooklyn's most infamous drug dealers. When NYPD's Operation Clean Up targets the notoriously drug-ridden BK housing project, all three officers find themselves swept away by the violence and corruption of Brooklyn's gritty 65th Precinct and its most treacherous criminals.

Throughout his career, [Hawke's] broody emotionality has never read as phony so much as sincerely self-aggrandizing. Here, it connects with nothing, reminding us in turn that the film does not connect with its audience.

Audience Reviews for Brooklyn's Finest

Sep 08, 2012

Fuqua has fallen from grace since Training Day but sadly this isn't the return to form I was hoping for. the film is a mess of ideas and tries heavily to act like a Crash style of noir but falls flat in the end.
the cast of heavy hitters are all well cast but they cannot do anything with such a weak script. Fuqua has the mood set but the actions of some of the characters border unbelievable which makes me wonder if he even took much notice of the script in development.
what could of been a possible return to the training day world is flat and downright boring at times. the ending is a massive slap in the face and lacks any emotion for the lead characters. Wesley Snipes is quite good but underused in a role that needed much more depth so Cheadle's swap of loyalty seemed more real.

More like Brooklyn's Worst in terms of scripting, overdone drama, and tension reaching way too high. It is well-acted I admit, as well as quite dark, but why does it need to be overly violent? There's no need for cliched characters in search for a bloodbath.

I don't know why this was so universally bashed, it's really a great move and in many ways beats out its contemporaries like Crash. The main reason for that is fact that it doesn't have a single overbearing message that it's trying to convey for the entire movie, each character has their own message. I think Antoine Fuqua usually has a great style that he brings to his movies and this is a prime example of it. This often times has a visual style that mirrors each central character's tone, which I thought was pretty cool. Also, just from a visual standpoint Brookyln's Finest is extremely impressive. It reminds me a lot of The French Connection in that it has a realistic element that you can't quite put your finger on, but it's undeniably there. The story lines did a perfect job of intersecting; it wasn't obtrusive or cheesy, but gave you a feeling that this was just a massive city. The depiction of the police and criminals was really interesting; I liked that neither side was labeled as outright heroes or villains. (on a side note, I think it's hilarious that Richard Gere is rescuing hookers again). The core stories depend on individual decisions and morals rather that simple foreshadowing or having a plot that needs to go a certain direction. When the final climax finally hits, it's truly beautiful how everything works out. This is also strengthened by its performances; Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke all turn in extremely good performances. All of their characters are conveyed in a way that makes them feel like real people. The acting isn't overblown or drawn out for oscar season. Chances are, if you're willing to give this a chance, it'll probably be a really nice surprise.

The film takes place within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of Brooklyn and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects in the NYPD's (fictional) 65th precinct. The action revolves around three policemen whose relationships to their jobs are drastically different.Crude and violent(Fuqua's style) this is a good police movie.